1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to articles that are removably attachable to surfaces, and particularly to a decorative article including an ornament, the decorative article being removably attachable to a surface by magnetism.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
It is frequently desirable to temporarily decorate surfaces for special occasions. Particularly in this regard, it has become customary to decorate automobiles for weddings by the use of a number of ornamental artificial carnation flowers. Commonly these flowers are made of plastic, fabric or paper and are attached to the car by adhesive tape. The adhesive tape, however, is generally ineffective to hold the flower at high speeds or in wet weather. Further, the adhesive tape has the significant disadvantage of, in the least, leaving a residue on the paint finish and, at worst, removing some of the paint when it is removed. In any event, these flowers have generally single use lifetimes, which adds to their cost.
There remains in the art the longstanding need to provide a simple, effective, reusable and non-marring decorative article composed of an ornament and mounting means therefor of the type hereinabove described.
In the prior art, there have been numerous solutions forwarded to provide mounting structures for the temporary attachment of articles to surfaces.
One class of mounting solution involves the use of a clamp which attaches to a specific location on the surface. An example of such a structure is U.S. Pat. No. 2,764,122 to Irvin which discloses a funeral flag attached to a base having a clamp. The clamp is removably attachable to the rain gutter of a motor vehicle. Because of the specificity of the attachment location, such a mounting solution is unacceptable for decorative articles of the type hereinabove described.
A second class of mounting solution involves the use of suction cups which employ vacuum to hold an article onto a smooth surface. An example of such a structure is U.S. Pat. No. 2,277,981 to Horton, which discloses a flag mounted to a channeled extension that is integral with a suction cup. This solution suffers from the problem that the vacuum in the suction cup is generally not well maintained, resulting in eventual release of the suction cup from the surface. U.S. Pat. No. 2,069,942 to Cohen is an example of an improved suction cup, having an annular groove that improves maintenance of the vacuum. U.S. Pat. No. 3,148,856 to Orlando is an example of an improved suction cup structure in which a magnet is included for attractively interacting with a smooth magnetizable surface, thus, assisting the maintenance of the suction cup vacuum. While suction cup based mounting devices can be located anywhere on a flat, smooth surface, they suffer from the need to include a rather large base structure which includes the suction cup and an integral mounting device for the article to be attached thereto. Consequently, suction cup mounting devices are not suited to replace adhesive tape for decorative articles as hereinabove described.
A third class of mounting solution involves the use of magnetic materials which magnetize a surface to which an article is to be attached, resulting in a magnetic attraction therewith. There are numerous examples of magnetic mounting devices. U.S. Pat. No. 3,082,982 to Moskowitz discloses a staff support having a staff holding base, to which is attached, in one plane, three projections, each having an end including a permanent magnet. U.S. Pat. No. 3,131,897 to Shelker et al discloses a base made of a rubberized sheet having magnetized particles therein, to which is attached a plurality of upstanding spines for holding a floral display. U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,786 to Duddy discloses a base having magnet members attached thereto on one side and a flag staff holder on the other side thereof. U.S. Pat. No. 4,058,335 to Abe discloses a magnetic mounting device which utilizes a magnetic sheet having a shape that causes a suction action when the magnetic sheet is attracted to a magnetizable surface. U.S. Pat. No. 4,287,676 to Weinhaus discloses an elastomeric material interposed a magnetizable surface and a magnet for improving frictional resistance to lateral forces. U.S. Pat. No. 4,574,726 to Sullivan discloses a distress signal device having a magnetized base to which is threadingly attached a flag staff. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,215 to Anders et al discloses a distress signal device having a flag staff holder on one side of a base and a magnetized sheet attached to the other side of the base. While a magnetized mounting device which utilizes a sheet magnetized material may provide a mounting substitute for adhesive tape, there remains a problem of potential suction generated under the magnetized sheet which can cause difficult removal from the magnetizable surface. Indeed, certain of the prior art magnetic mounting devices cited hereinabove are structured to enhance suction.
In the prior art, there have also been numerous solutions forwarded to provide a fastener for mounting an article to a base. U.S. Pat. No. 3,088,295 to Haines discloses an ornament holder having a male pin fastener element and a female gripper fastener element which releasably grips the pin fastener element when inserted thereinto. U.S. Pat. No. 3,574,901 to Nogue discloses an ornament holder having a flange stud which fits into an internal cavity of an elastic material and is secured thereinto by an adhesively attached washer. U.S. Pat. No. 3,819,458 to Kinderman et al discloses a holder system for an ornamental article having a plurality of upstanding projections, spaced about a ring member, to each of which is attached a hollow tubular member that carries an ornament. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,625 to Willinger discloses a cup-shaped base to which is interfitted an ornamental artificial plant. None of these fasteners teach a structure which can releasably hold a decorative article of the type hereinabove described to its base and simultaneously keep the decorative article in an assembled state.
While the above described prior art devices teach various solutions to particular mounting and fastening problems, there remains in the prior art the need to provide a decorative article of the type hereinabove described in which the fastening means holds the components of the decorative article in an assembled state relative to the base and the base holds the decorative article relative to a magnetizable surface without marring or generating suction with the magnetizable surface.